The Season 5 finale of Starz’ mega-hit show Outlander was a deeply emotional journey for its leads, Caitriona Balfe, who plays Claire Fraser, and Sam Heughan, as her husband Jamie Fraser.

Since its 2014 premiere, the show has led us through two hundred years of time travel for the star-crossed lovers, as they’ve survived everything from the Battle of Culloden, to marauding pirates. Now, in Season 5, the couple have attempted to settle in 18th century North Carolina, on the brink of the American Revolutionary War. But of course, in true Outlander fashion, things do not run smoothly, and by the finale, Claire and Jamie Fraser find themselves in a horrific situation.

The episode “Never My Love” follows Claire as she is brutally abducted and raped. Speaking via video conference during an AwardsLine screening series panel discussion on Thursday, showrunner, executive producer and writer Matthew B. Roberts talked about the decision to do extensive research into trauma and to partner with RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network).

“We wanted to be very careful with it,” he said. We have in the past on Outlander dealt with rape and sexual assault on the show so we have a lot of consultants, over the past six years, that we’ve been going to, and we mine their expertise before we even start the process.”

Balfe, who, along with Heughan was also a producer this season, added, “I think anytime you tackle the issue of sexual violence or rape, you want to do it the most responsible way you possibly can. What we’ve always done on Outlander is try to take a point of view and highlight something that can be somewhat helpful in terms of starting a conversation… We talked a lot with RAINN about how we could approach this and also in terms of having trigger warnings before the episode.”

Bloomsday Readings and Songs will be streamed lived form Dublin on Bloomsday, June 16, with appearances from Irish celebs including Caitriona Balfe, Aidan Gillen, Glen Hansard, David Norris, and more – tune in here!

It’s time to don that boater hat and join Caitriona Balfe, Aidan Gillen, Glen Hansard, David Norris, and more for a celebration of James Joyce’s Ulysses as part of the Bloomsday Festival’s flagship event “Readings and Songs.”

Bloomsday, June 16, the day in which James Joyce’s “Ulysses” unfolds, is a long-standing and treasured tradition. This year, the tradition will be kept alive online thanks to Bloomsday Readings and Songs, which will be streaming live from Dublin, the backdrop to Joyce’s famous novel.

You can tune into Bloomsday Readings and Songs live here on IrishCentral or over on IrishCentral’s Facebook on Bloomsday, June 16th, at 7pm IST / 2pm EST.

Every Dubliner has their own story about James Joyce, and no one more so than our best-known Joycean scholar, Senator David Norris, who has been at the heart of Joyce’s Dublin for almost 60 years. Senator Norris will introduce the show, featuring a cast of noted Irish writers, actors, musicians, pundits, and everyone in between, reading extracts from Ulysses. The readings will bring to life Joyce’s immortal words, from his description of Dublin’s “snot green sea”, to Molly Bloom’s famous “yes”.

Ulysses is composed in 18 episodes mirroring Homer’s Odyssey and takes place in over 18 locations around Dublin. Experience your personal odyssey through James Joyce’s epic novel from the comfort of your home.

Writers taking part this year’s Bloomsday Readings and Songs event include Colum McCann, Booker Prize nominee Donal Ryan, Paul Lynch, winner of the Kerry Group Novel of Year, crime writer Tana French, Mary Costello, recently shortlisted for the Dalkey Literary Award, Christine Dwyer Hickey, author of Dublin’s most recent One City One Book, and Peter Murphy, novelist, and vocalist with Cursed Murphy & the Resistance. International best-selling author Douglas Kennedy will be reading with his actress daughter, Amelia Kennedy.

Going from stage to page will be chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan, Jess Kavanagh of BARQ, spoken word artist Sasha Terfous, and Glen Hansard. While joining the Bloomsday Festival from TV, film and the stage will be Aiden Gillen, Kate Stanley Brennan, Emmet Kirwan, performance artist Bonnie Boux, and writer and director Gerard Stembridge. Bafta winner and four-time Golden Globe nominee actress, Caitriona Balfe, will be reading from Molly Bloom’s soliloquy.

In the latest episode of The Times’ TV podcast “Can’t Stop Watching,” host and staff writer Yvonne Villarreal asks “Outlander” star Caitriona Balfe about her character’s harrowing kidnapping and rape in the Season 5 finale — a scene Balfe’s co-star, Sam Heughan, discussed during his own appearance earlier this month:

One of the things I love about Claire is that everyone talks about what a strong character she is — but there’s a danger, in that people sort of make that character Teflon. … I thought it was really important to show that no matter how strong you are, no matter who you are, if you go through something like this, first of all, you don’t know how your body is going to react. You don’t know how you’re going to be able to process it. And nobody comes out of anything like this unscathed.

You can listen the episode here to hear Balfe chat about sketching the “Outlander” cast, her love of “Cagney and Lacey” and co-starring with — maggots. [Source]

Two Scottish brothers have created a hilarious social distancing sketch called Star Force, which features James McAvoy and Outlander stars Caitriona Balfe and Steven Cree.

Kevin and Ross Mains, originally from East Kilbride, co-wrote the project with Brendan O’Rourke over Zoom after finding themselves having free time during the coronavirus pandemic.

Kevin Mains, 30, who is known for starring in Outlaw King, Shetland and Mountain Goats, said:

“There is no work for acting this now and it’s a good way to pass the time and have a laugh…. And when someone like James (McAvoy) says he’ll take part, it makes the message of staying at home easier to take as you’re seeing these stars adhering to the guidelines.”

Ross Mains, 25, best known for his comedic sketches on BBC The Social, directed the clip which has been watched over 700K times.

Ross had previously worked with Outlander star Steven Cree, who showed the video to his friend James McAvoy and the Hollywood star immediately wanted to be involved in a future production.

The sketch took just just over a month to make as the stars had to social distance due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Ross Mains said: All the directing would need to be done on WhatsApp, with the actors recording and sending their lines through the messenger!”

He continued to say: “Like any film there were reshoots and difficulties but the actors were all very understanding of it.”

The actress and executive producer breaks down the episode’s heaviest moments and her hopes for Outlander’s next season.

Claire Fraser is no stranger to brutality. The first time we ever see our Outlander heroine, played by Caitriona Balfe, on-screen, she’s stoically tending to a soldier’s horrifically mangled leg, her face spattered with arterial blood, and her life became only marginally less grueling after World War II ended. Since tumbling back through time into 18th-century Scotland, Claire has endured a whole litany of traumas—loss, miscarriage, physical and emotional violence at the hands of countless villains—and emerged more resilient than ever. But tonight’s Season 5 finale centers on what may be Claire’s most horrific ordeal to date, following her kidnapping at the hands of Lionel Brown and his men at the climax of last week’s episode. The disorienting opening moments of “Never My Love” find Claire in an idyllic but surreal 1960s dreamscape, immediately suggesting that this will be no ordinary episode of Outlander. It soon becomes clear that this is her brain’s desperate attempt to cope with unspeakable trauma as she is gagged, beaten, and raped by multiple men.

Outlander has always been fascinated with the dynamics of sex and power, and by extension with the ways in which sexual assault is used as a weapon. Ever since Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) was raped by Black Jack Randall at the end of Season 1, the show has drawn praise for its unusually nuanced portrayal of sexual violence and its lasting psychological impact. But more recently, particularly in the wake of the rape of Brianna Randall Fraser (Sophie Skelton) last season, there has also been criticism for what some consider an overreliance on rape as a source of conflict and drama; an overreliance that is baked into Diana Gabaldon’s novels, on which the show is based. Though Claire is promptly rescued midway through the season finale, this episode will continue a long and sometimes fraught conversation about the role of sexual violence on Outlander.

“It is a really hard line that we have to tread,” Balfe told me over the phone last week. “Obviously, we try to stick as faithfully to the books as possible, and [rape] is something that creeps up quite often in Diana’s novels. When you have eight or nine books out in the span of 20 years, it probably doesn’t feel like there’s as much, but when you’re compressing all of that down for TV, it becomes quite difficult. We can only try to do it as respectfully and as, I suppose, empoweringly as we can.”

In a new video, Caitriona Balfe is spending her day the way we’d like to be spending our time social distancing: on the beach, alone, reading poetry. The footage of the Outlander star was filmed back in February, months before the concept of quarantines and lockdowns had even crossed our minds, but now, the clip of Balfe in solitude is even more relevant.

The short film was shot by photographer and director James Houston—an old friend and frequent collaborator of Balfe’s—in L.A. In it, the actress runs barefoot on the sand, laughing with the wind blowing in her hair.

“Shooting Caitriona is always such a wonderful and rewarding experience,” Houston tells BAZAAR.com. “She is a dear friend and a true natural beauty. Even though her star has risen over recent years as a respected actress, she has remained the same grounded and humble girl I met years ago. I loved this shoot of her because it showcases her timeless beauty. I chose to take her to the ocean with minimal styling, hair, and makeup to capture an intimate, raw portrait of her.”

In the background, Balfe narrates the poem “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by W. B. Yeats, which was a collaborative choice made by both the actress and director. “After I directed this piece for Caitriona, I was thinking about what to put behind the visuals,” Houston explains. “I know Caitriona is well read and loves poetry, so rather than just use a music track, I asked her to send me a few of her favorite poems. I chose W. B. Yeats as it just felt right for Caitriona and the visuals. After recording her reading the poem (which only took two takes), we added the sounds of the ocean and birds. I really love the result.” [Source]

I have added some stills for the final episode of Outlander to the gallery. Did you like this?? You can send us your reviews.

If you like the updates and want to help this site to keep online, please, feel free to go here to donate, every little bit helps! I need a few help to maintain the site due the situation in my country. Thanks.

When Diana Gabaldon sat down to write Outlander three decades ago, she let her imagination run free, ultimately creating an epic story that encompasses time travel, the passionate love story between Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall, and well-researched historic events from the 18th century. Her efforts have paid off with a series of best-selling novels. There are eight books in the franchise—a ninth is in the works— with the first five novels (Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn and The Fiery Cross) having been turned into one of Starz’s most successful series to date, with season six already in the works.

“Almost anybody can write a good love story, in which people meet and fall in love and get married or run off together,” Gabaldon says, adding, “It’s much harder and thus more interesting to find out what it takes to be married for 50 years. I had never seen anybody do that, so that’s what I decided I’d like to do.”

The Starz series that follows the heroic journey of Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) is such a success that the term “Droughtlander” has been coined for the period of time in between seasons. And we will be heading there shortly. The season five finale airs May 10, and according to Heughan, it’s going to be “big.”

“It’s a very strong finale, quite stylized and quite unsettling,” he shares. “I think people are going to be pretty shocked as well. If you’ve read the books, you know what happens, but the way we’ve shot it is exciting.”

In preparation for the upcoming Droughtlander, we spoke to Gabaldon, Heughan, Balfe and current Outlander showrunner Matthew B. Roberts to get their insights and fun facts as they look back on all five seasons. Spoiler alert for those who have not yet seen all of the seasons.